Chechen Governor Ramzan Kadyrov says relatives of criminals who cannot be apprehended should be punished

In a meeting with officials from the Internal Affairs Ministry’s Chechen department and the Russian National Guard, Chechen Governor Ramzan Kadyrov said that if criminals cannot be apprehended, their relatives should be punished. Kadyrov published a recording of the meeting.

According to the video’s captions, Kadyrov said that “any attempt on a person’s life will also affect the family of the perpetrator.” “Close relatives should know what their family member is involved in and bear responsibility for him,” he added.

However, the Chechen opposition Telegram channel 1ADAT noted that in the video itself, Kadyrov, speaking in Chechen, was more specific. In particular, he hinted at the possibility of killing murderers’ relatives:

Kadyrov added that it was not enough for a family to sever ties with a relative who committed a crime. “Relatives disowning [the criminal] won’t work until we’ve killed someone from their family and taken the right of blood revenge,” Kadyrov said.

Agentstvo and the Chechen human rights organization Vayfond published similar translations of Kadyrov’s speech.

This is not the first time Kadyrov has spoken about killing people. In October, he told law enforcement to lethally fire on people at unauthorized rallies if they do not respond to warning shots. In December, Kadyrov said that it would have been good if his 16-year-old son Adam had killed Nikita Zhuravel, a prisoner who was arrested for allegedly burning a Quran, instead of just beating him.